REENA ROSE SIBAYAN / THE JERSEY JOURNALThe 9/11 teardrop memorial called "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism" by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli is dedicated in a ceremony at the Harborview Park on the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor on the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States, Sept. 11, 2006.

Zurab Tsereteli, the Russian artist who designed Bayonne's 9/11 Teardrop Memorial, was saddened by the news that it will almost certainly be moved to make way for a
container port, according to a story in today's Jersey Journal.

He said he hoped it will be moved to another location with a
view of the World Trade Center site.

Earlier this month The Jersey Journal reported that the 10-story high,
175-ton bronze monument, along with a smaller monument dedicated
specifically to the Bayonne residents who died in the attacks would
likely need to be moved due to the sale of the Military Ocean Terminal
to the Port Authority.

"I am very sad to hear weeks before the anniversary of Sept. 11th that
the BLRA intends to remove the only significant monument to the victims
of the 9/11 attacks in the area," said the artist, Zurab Tsereteli via
e-mail. "If the Monument is relocated, it must be installed in another
location appropriate to honor the memories of those we lost."

Officially named "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism," the monument was a gift from Tsereteli and the people of Russia.

Tsereteli is traveling in Croatia, but his attorney, Emily Madoff, said
via e-mail that the monument was "designed with the intention of it
being on the water in proximity to Ground Zero."

Madoff pointed out that it will be extremely expensive to move the
monument which cost some $2.2 million to install, not including the
cost of shipping the 175-ton structure to Bayonne or flying in and
housing the Russian engineers who worked on it.

"It's not like the BLRA (Bayonne Local Redevelopment Agency) gets a
flatbed truck, tips the Monument on its side and moves it to another
location. There's months of work involved," she said.

The 175-ton monument is installed on top of steel and cement caissons
that are drilled into bedrock. The monument was transported from Russia
to Bayonne in five pieces, each of which were so large that a special
crane needed to be brought in because even the largest crane in
Bayonne's container port could not lift it, Madoff said.

"It should stay where it is," said Frank Perrucci, chairman of the
Bayonne Remembers Committee. "To me it's hallowed ground I don't think
it should be touched."

He said he's been deluged with calls about it, sometimes as many as 10 a day.

One of those was Robert "Captain Bob" Terzi, a Bayonne taxi driver who
started a petition at
www.gopetition.com/petitions/tear-drop-monument.html to prevent the
relocation. As of yesterday afternoon he had 326 signatures.

Terzi, whose sister-in-law survived both World Trade Center attacks and
visits the memorial every morning, said the location of the memorial
across from the World Trade Center site was essential and that the
remote location of the monument in the middle of an abandoned container
port is part of its charm. Everyone who comes in contact with the
memorial has made a special trip to be there.

But BLRA director Chris Patella said
that there is a "very strong likelihood" the memorial will be moved
since it's on the Peninsula's "most prime piece of real estate."

"We're not looking to destroy the monument or the park. We're simply
looking to relocate it in the most compassionate and logical way that
we can," he said, adding, "Wherever we relocate this park it will be
spectacular."